A year later
by futureprez40
Summary: just a little fun fan fic i wrote about christmas time when Nikita was still a part of Division. Happy Reading.


_Last Christmas I gave you my heart, but the very next day you gave it away. This year, to save me from tears. I'll give it to someone special._

Nikita was sitting on her recruit bed, once again stuck in Division on Christmas Day. She had learned to hate Christmas, never once had anything good ever happened to her. As a child, she was always stuck in foster care, even though her foster mom Caroline treated her well, her faster dad never allowed her to go out with the other kids. The thought of Gary made her only want to punch something even more. Over the years, after she had escaped the hell hole of a "house" she was always too high to remember what she did on Christmas. And now, even though she technically could do whatever she want, she couldn't shake the images of last Christmas, and how horrible it had turned out.

**ONE YEAR AGO…**

"Nikita, what are you doing?"

Turning around, Nikita saw that Michael was entering her apartment. This was Nikita's first year as an agent, and for once she got to spend Christmas the way she had always wanted. Last Christmas she was stuck as a recruit, stuck in the underground building of Division, unable to enjoy the "true spirit of Christmas" which she had yet to experience. She was in the middle of decorating her Christmas tree when Michael had arrived.

"What does it look like I'm doing?" She tried her best to ignore the tickling sensation in her stomach, the one she always got whenever Michael was around.

"Making a mess in your apartment" Nikita could hear the teasing tone in the statement, even though Michael worked hard to try to sound serious"

"I see. I guess you don't know the true spirit of Christmas then" she countered.

"As a matter of fact, I do. And probably better than you. For one thing, most normal people have their trees up BEFORE Christmas day. So you know, Santa can come by and give them presents" She turned and stuck her tongue out at her mentor.

"Not my fault, I work for these people who never give me time to do personal things" They both laughed. "Maybe if I had more time, this would have been done forever ago and you wouldn't be making fun of me"

"Would you like me to enlighten you on how to decorate a tree?" Pretending to contemplate the idea, Nikita brought her pointer finger to her chin, before nodding.

Michael helped Nikita to open the boxes of new ornaments, both dancing around the tree, the radio blasting different Christmas tunes. Both were goofing off, their guards let down for once, and before they knew it, they had finished decorating the tree.

Nikita sighed with content as she turned to Michael. At the same moment, Michael turned to look down at Nikita. Their eyes met. And for a moment, everything in the world seemed to disappear. Nikita offered a timid smile, tucking a pretend piece of hair behind her ear.

"Ummm.. I should go… I …" Michael started.

"What are you doing tonight?" Nikita interrupted, hoping that Michael wanted to be alone with her as much as she wanted to be with him.

"Nothing… I was just going to watch _It's a Wonderful Life_ alone at my place."

"How about you come over around 6 and we can have dinner together. I'll cook"

Michael was more than pleased by the offer, but he knew what saying yes would lead to. He didn't want to hurt her feelings though.

"Umm.. okay. I'll be back in a few hours then?"

Nikita smiled. "Okay."

As soon as he left, she ran into her room and dug through the little clothes she owned. Hoping that Amanda had given her some sort of dress that made her presentable at such short notice. After finding a red dress that fit her body perfectly, that reached just above her knee, she decided to go and clean up the mess from earlier, before getting the other items ready for the night.

Meanwhile on the other side of town, Michael was taking a shower, thinking of Nikita and how much he had wanted to kiss her when they were beside the tree. The real reason for his visit had been that he had gotten her a present. But he was too much of a wimp to give it to her, he hoped that tonight offered him a chance for him to present it to her. After getting out, he dressed in his favorite suit. The baby blue one that Nikita seemed to like. As he was getting to leave his place, his phone rang.

"hello?"

"It's Percy. You're needed in Division right now"

"Yes sir." With that Percy hung up. Hoping whatever was awaiting him in Division wouldn't take long, he sighed. _Duty Calls_.. he thought bitterly.

It was 5:55pm. Nikita was trying to finish setting up the table, lighting the candles and making sure everything was perfect. She stared at the clock as it began to tick down. At 6, she smiled to herself and stared at the door.

Five minutes passed… Michael was still nowhere to be seen. 10 minutes… 20 minutes.. with each passing second, Nikita's smile only faltered. At 7 she decided to give up, the surge of hope she had felt only an hour before evaporated and she was more than disappointed. She retired to bed, too sad to even care about to clean up the table where the candle had turned into wax.

Michael checked his watch. Percy had decided to have a meeting with him and Amanda about upcoming missions. Of all days it just happened to be the one time where he had things to attend to. He realized he would not be getting out of the room anytime soon and wanting nothing more than to send Nikita a quick text explaining the situation. But he knew that it would lead Amanda to be curious and then other things would happen and then cancellation would occur. And he didn't want that.

When the meeting finally ended it was 10 pm and he decided it was too late to go bother Nikita. She had probably gone to bed already.

The next few weeks, Nikita was sent on missions in places unknown and Michael never got a chance to talk to her. With each passing minute that they didn't see each other their relationship only grew more strained.

It was a year later, Michael decided to go visit Nikita. He still hadn't given her the present from the year before and he wanted nothing more than to finally give it to her. Knocking at the door, it took what felt like forever before Nikita answered it.

"What do you want?" From the look on her face it was obvious that she was annoyed.

"Umm.. can I come in?"

"Fine." She opened the door and allowed him in. Michael was starting to become more and more confused as the silence lengthened.

"Err… we haven't talked in awhile. How are you?" He was trying his best to start a conversation.

"Fine.. "

Not the answer he had been anticipating.

"No Christmas Spirit this year?"

"Nope. I hate Christmas. Ever since… " she trailed off, realizing what she was about to say. Realizing that she was going to state how much he influenced her life, and that was a big no no nowadays.

"ever since?"

"Nothing, don't worry about it."

They stopped talking for a few minutes, Michael contemplating what to say next.

"Look.. we haven't really talked since last year… and I just wanted to let you know that I'm sorry about our plans… I was on my way but Percy called.. and then I wasn't able to get out of the meeting and by the time I was out, it was too late. I thought you'd understand but you kept avoiding me."

"STOP! I don't care anymore. I know how you are with your work .. it always comes first. Everything else isn't as important. Whatever. Now if you're done I would like to go do my stuff. "

"Nikita, don't be mad, I'm sorry. I wanted to be here too but you know how it is. If I had said no Percy would have gotten suspicious and I didn't want to endanger you."

"Enough excuses. Just get out okay?" He could tell that she was really pissed off now. And he didn't want to hurt her anymore than he already had.

"Okay.. but before I leave. Here" He handed over the small gift box he had wrapped the year before. "I got this for you last year but then all of that happened and you've been avoiding me. I never got a chance to give it to you. But better late than never right?..." He paused before realizing she still hadn't said anything. "Well I guess I'll go now. Merry Christmas Nikita." With that he turned and left but not before turning to glance her way one last time.

As soon as Michael was out the door, Nikita knew that she had overreacted. Curious as to what was in the box she slowly tore away the wrapping paper, opening the box she saw a Silver Necklace of a Dog Paw. She dropped the box, and ran out the door.

"MICHAEL!" she saw him, at the other end of the hall entering the elevator. "WAIT!"

Michael looked up, surprised that Nikita had come out of her apartment. Holding the door, he waited for what was to come next.

"I'm sorry" she said as she ran into his arms. Embracing him in a hug. "I'm sorry I shouldn't have reacted that way. It's just I felt hurt because you stood me up." He felt his arms wrap around her, his fingers tangling in her hair as she looked up. Closing his eyes he leaned into Nikita, bringing their lips together for the first time in what felt like ages.

Breaking away from the kiss, he looked down into her eyes. "So does that mean you forgive me?"

She laughed, her musical laugh, and pecked him lightly on the cheek before saying "Of course!" They exited the elevator, returning to her apartment, all the while debating what they should do to celebrate the revival of a friendship that both of them had missed so much. It really didn't matter what they did, so long as they were together.

A/N: hope you enjoyed it ! MERRY CHRISTMAS TO ALL ! : *:]


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